Mapping the Great Barrier Reef (Using Google Street View)

By Megan Garber

How to explore a coral reef -- no goggles required

The Great Barrier Reef, just off the Australia's Queensland coast, is the largest structure in the world that's composed of living organisms. (You can see it from space!) It's a lush -- and, visually, pretty magical -- ecosystem, one that begs to be both explored and visualized.

To conduct the study, the researchers have developed an underwater camera -- the maritime version of Google's Streetview Car -- which is able to take 360-degree panoramic shots of its surroundings as it propels its way through the sea.

The survey's results so far, documented here in amazing, zoom-able shots, are pretty much the next best thing to diving the reefs yourself. They're also an elegant example not only of the productive merging of technology with science ... but also of technology's merging with a third field: art.